Senator presents amendment to S.232 removing 5% carve‑out, creating flexible grant program for after‑school and summer services

Sen. Hard presented a late amendment to S.232, the library bill, that would remove the bill's prior 5% earmark and instead establish a competitive grant program to sustain or expand universal after‑school and summer programs. "This amendment ... gets rid of the 5%," the sponsor said, and clarifed that eligible recipients would include public libraries, schools, nonprofit groups and volunteer mentoring programs.

The amendment instructs the agency to create a grant program that can support existing programs or expansion of programs that provide literacy, arts, technology or science education, nutritious meals and recreational activities. It also allows a coalition of libraries to apply as a single applicant and permits the agency to allocate a portion of funds to the Department of Libraries so that department may make subgrants to public libraries.

Committee members focused on the program's administrative design and funding. One legislator noted the agency currently had $500,000 earmarked to administer the program and questioned whether that level of administrative funding was necessary. The sponsor said the amendment adds language directing the agency to simplify the application and reporting process "to reduce barriers to grant program participation for small community‑based organizations such as rural libraries and volunteer mentoring programs."

Members discussed oversight and reporting: officials said the Agency of Education (AOE) provides an annual report and libraries also do annual reporting; the sponsor said the amendment would fold grant reporting into those existing reports rather than creating a separate requirement. Lawmakers also debated replacing permissive language ("may allocate") with mandatory language ("shall allocate") for directing a portion of funds to the Department of Libraries; the sponsor cautioned that making the provision mandatory could jeopardize the bill's prospects in Appropriations.

The committee signaled it was generally amenable to the amendment while leaving specific appropriation questions — including whether administrative funding should be reduced or set to a suggested figure — to the Appropriations Committee. The sponsor said she planned to present the amendment to Appropriations at 3:00 p.m. and asked to relay the education committee's views in support.

Next steps: The amendment will be presented in Appropriations; committee members asked staff to track whether funds reached libraries and to confirm the reporting commitments the agency will provide.